Hutchinson ? A former Trego County sheriff accused of molesting his adopted daughter has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Ryan Bloom was found guilty in October of molesting the 12-year-old. Charges included one count of rape, six counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of lewd and lascivious behavior for incidents that happened during 2005 and the early part of 2006.

A week after Keihl Rathbun, Bloom’s public defender, asked for a mental evaluation to determine Bloom’s competency, a psychological review found the former sheriff capable of assisting his attorneys during the trial.

District Judge Richard Rome on Friday gave the maximum sentence for each of the eight convictions. State law caps the sentence at double the highest-level sentence, which cuts a potential 44-year sentence to 27 years.

In written and taped confessions, Bloom admitted fondling his adopted daughter and stepping into the shower with her.

Bloom, who also served as an instructor at Hutchinson Community College and the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, denied the confessions during his trial.

He called them an idea concocted with his wife, Jessica Bloom, to spare his family harassment and humiliation for what he presumed would be a lengthy and widely publicized trial.

“Ryan has been a good person and a good father,” said Jessica Bloom’s mother, Barbara Johnson, who pleaded guilty to felony aggravated intimidation of a witness in connection with the case. “But a part of him is broken.”

Jessica Bloom pleaded guilty last month to aiding a felon and conspiracy to aid a felon by keeping the child out of state so that she could not testify against Ryan Bloom.